We Stand Alone Together, Through Hell And Back, Warriors to the End
by Pararescue fan 082
Summary: A story written by me with input from a group of close friends setting us a special forces team in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
1. Do or die

**AU for storyline changes**

 **Washington DC, Fireteam Cougar, EN Route to Triskelion SHIELD HQ 16:00 Hours**

As Captain America is taking out the Helicarriers of Project: INSIGHT a team of NATO Special Forces operators, call sign : Fireteam Cougar is flying in on Blackhawk helicopters to help evacuate wounded SHIELD personnel as HYDRA has come out of hiding with in SHIELD. The team consists of Team leader: Lieutenant Ian Wilgus, US Air Force Pararescue (PJ) is carrying a Highly customized M4 with Eotech Holgraphic sight, specialized rail system, suppressor, flashlight, ergo grip and laser designator for his sidearm he carries an M1911, Assistant Team Leader Tech Sergeant Jacob Straka ,US Marine Raiders carrying a SCAR-L assault rifle, with a ACOG, bipod forward grip, laser designator (PEQ-15 as the rest of the team does) and suppressor, Radio Operator: Staff Sergeant Destiny moon USAF JTAC is carrying an MK18 MOD1 with a T-1 sight, magnifier, laser sight, anged grip aand suppressor , Felicity Cooper British SAS who carries an M110 sniper rifle with a rifle scope, suppressor, bipod, and laser designator and a Glock 18 suppressed. Mg gunner: Private First Class Christian Hawkins, US Army Rangers carrying an M249 SAW light machine gun, with an ACOG sight, suppressor, bipod forward grip, and flashlight, Medic: Corporal Megan Helton British SAS who carries an MP7 submachine gun with a T1 micro red dot sight, suppressor, flashlight, and laser designator, Grenadier: Private Christian Gutierrez, US Navy SEALs who carries an HK416 assault rifle with an Eotech Holo sight, M203 underbarrel mounted grenade launcher, flashlight and suppressor, Assaulter : Private Angelo Kerwin carries a personalized M4A1 with a red dot sight, 3x magnifier, suppressor, folding grip, and flashlight, Spotter: Private Emily Salbato, US Navy SEALs carries an M16A4, rifle scope, suppressor, laser designator, bipod and forward grip and a Glock 18 suppressed, Point man: Kurt Bernsten US Marine Raiders carrying an MP7 with Micro T1 red dot sight, suppressor, flashlight and laser designator plus an 870 MCS with holographic sight, and flashlight. All carry P226 pistols with suppressors accept for Salbato and Cooper, the entire team wear Jumpable Plate Carriers (JPC) and FAST ballistic helmets (all troops also wear multicam gen2 and 3 uniforms). The team's lead pilot is Captain Maysa Sweeten, US Army Nightstalkers.

"Alright our primary mission is to treat wounded and rescue any survivors…." Wilgus says over the Radio "We can neutralize any threats but be selective we don't know who is friendly or enemy. Captain Sweeten and her crew will keep Cooper and Salbato nearby as sniper support and be ready for extraction," "Copy that, Wilgus" The team responds" "Ive got you guys covered out here." Sweeten says over the radio. The team reaches the airfield "Go ,go, go!" the team then fast ropes down to the tarmac, except for Cooper and Salbato who stay in the chopper to provide Sniper support, they all move to the door and stack up, breach the wall and clear the room and move towards the launch control area. Wilgus moves up to the stairwell and enters the small space while his team holds position. As he goes through the door Brock Rumlow tries to stab him with a knife, Wilgus grabs his arm but is forced against the wall "Why hello there LT." Rumlow says sinisterly "Fuck off…you traitorous Son of a bitch." Wilgus replies kneeing Rumlow in the stomach and seeing Allen Limpiano prepare to shoot at him. Wilgus pushes him off and spins back through the door as Rumlow starts shooting his pistol at where Wilgus was while Limpiano fires at the same location. Rumlow signals for Lopez to go and they both leave to separate areas. Wilgus spins back around the wall to see Rumlow and Limpiano are both gone. "Shit…Those Sons of a Bitches were part of our squad and they went HYDRA." The team looks at him. "Who?" Destiny asks "Rumlow and Lopez are here and they are traitors." The team looks at each other and starts moving towards the stairwell. As they enter a room they see a few STRIKE commandos holding a few special-forces operators captive. They move into the room and realize it is a trap. "BOMB!" Wilgus yells noticing a few soldiers with detonators in their hand, he pushes Kurt back and dives with him as the bomb goes off. The two barely make it to cover. They enter the room and see there is another room which had been up armored to take the blast. Ian and Kurt stack on the door and breach through. Once they enter the room they see Fireteam Panther's leader Lt. Allie Horner in the chokehold of the STRIKE team's commander. "Drop your weapons!" He yells at the two troopers. Wilgus looks over to Kurt and nods so they slowly set down their weapons. Wilgus looks at Allie and winks so she gets ready knowing there is definitely a plan. She yanks the Traitor's arm down as Wilgus draws his pistol and fires twice hitting the agent in the head and chest cavity. Wilgus then sees her fall and rushes over to her. He notices she had been shot in the leg and gets out his medkit and treats her. He turns on his comms "Cooper, Salbato get the choppers to the 10th floor landing pad." "Copy that sir" The two say. Horner looks up and sees Wilgus treating her leg. "Thanks Ian." "You're welcome, we are gonna get you out of here." Allie nods, Wilgus then sends Megan and Destiny to take Allie to the choppers as the rest of the team moves through the rest of the building with him.

 **Two Years Ago Somalia, Africa 23:45 Hours**

Wilgus looks at his team through night vision goggles, seeing every person's call sign on their shoulder. He signals to start the operation. When this happens the team starts moving toward. the target building in Mogadishu, Captain Brock Rumlow, Lieutenant Maria Hill and Private Allen Limpiano were assigned to this mission by SHIELD. They were not allowed to directly breach the building but they were on close over watch whilst Sergeant Cooper watched over from 300 yards out. The team had to follow a strict Radio silence policy so they could capture their target. The team then moves to the door and stacks up on both sides of the doorway. The team moves into the build but an explosion goes off throwing the entire team back and most of the team out cold. Wilgus notices this and draws his 1911 and fires taking down 7 enemies in 8 shots. Then the rest of the rebels point their weapons at him. Just as he accepts his fate, Rumlow and Lopez step in knocking out the enemies and distracting them long enough for the team to come to. The team then moves to get the intel supposedly inside the house but everything was torched by the blast. The mission failed plus Rumlow and Lopez were called up by senior officials leaving Wilgus in charge of the team. Which would bond much more over the next two years.

 **Inside The Triskelion 16:45 Hours**

The team moves in and finds a wounded Maria Hill and a couple other agents trying to hold their own against a 10 man STRIKE team. Wilgus has his team move into covered positions by using hand signal which had been practiced so many times it had become muscle memory. He then radios and. has the choppers with Felicity and Emily on call. "Open fire on three. 1….2…3". The team fires hitting all but one of the targets who is able to hit the two agents with Hill killing them. The enemy is then hit by a shot from Cooper's sniper rifle. Hill turns around to see a team of US soldiers she knows very well. "Small world huh?" She says "I guess so, Maria" Wilgus then replies. Hill starts to move towards the landing pad "Where are you going?" Straka says to her "I have to get a chopper to help out Cap, Widow and Wilson….Get your team out those helicarriers are coming down fast." About five minutes later Wilgus sees the side of a helicarrier about to hit the building "GET TO THE CHOPPERS NOW!" he yells at his team they start running but a STRIKE trooper tackles Wilgus. "Go I'll get to you in a few seconds." Wilgus then punches the enemy in the face and draws his pistol from the holster on his left hip and empties the magazine into his targets gut. The team gets to the choppers but Wilgus is cut off by falling debris. "Lift off get to the window on the East side and drop the ladder." Wilgus yells to his team "Yes sir" Destiny responds Wilgus then sprints to the window and sees the chopper hovering outside and jumps through the window and grabs on and climbs into the cabin of the helicopter. "That was pretty close to a FUBAR, huh?" Wilgus says making his team chuckle. The Choppers then fly back to base.

 **Fireteam Cougar Barracks Common Area, 20:30 hours Classified Location, United States**

The team sits around in different states of geared down. Some still have their combat uniforms on while other have changed to t-shirts or tank tops, some still have their holsters on but all of them have their weapons within reach. Gutierrez, Hawkins, Bernsten and Straka sit talking about women and drinking some beers. Megan, Felicity, Destiny, Angelo, Emily and Ian are playing cards while also having some beers except for Ian who is drinking a soda. "I can't believe Rumlow and Limpiano pulled that shit." Destiny says. "Fucking Assholes…." Megan responds. "What do you think made them do it, Ian?" Felicity asks the lieutenant. "I have no clue but we are going to kick their asses once we get the chance." Suddenly there is a knock on the door. Everybody grabs their weapons as Wilgus walks towards the door he opens it to see Maria Hill at the door. Everybody sets down their weapons. "What are you doing here?" Wilgus asks "I wanted to come thank you all for saving my ass at the Triskelion earlier." Wilgus motions for her to come inside. "I actually have to go try and help rebuild SHIELD so I'm going to Pakistan but here take this" she hands the Lieutenant an expensive bottle of scotch. "Thank you Hill. Also if you find Rumlow or Lopez we want a shot at them." Hill nods in agreement and leaves.

As Ian goes back to playing cards with his team there is another knock on the door Wilgus walks up to the door with his hand on his pistol and opens it. "Hey, can I come in?" A wounded Allie Horner questions, being assisted by an orderly. "Sure, we're just hanging out." Wilgus takes the orderly's place and helps Allie to a seat at the table. "So what brings you over to our barracks?" Destiny asks. "Well, my team…..you saw what happened. I am the only one at the barracks" She says a little choked up. "Well, sadly one of our guys went turncoat so you can have his old bunk." "Thank you." She says to her fellow officer. "You want something to drink or eat?" Wilgus asks her. "Sure" Ian walks over to the fridge and pulls out a soda for her, he then grabs an MRE from his combat pack and walks back to the table and hands the food and drink to her. "Here you go. You should eat you'll need the strength to heal up." Allie nods towards her friend. The team spends the rest of the night playing cards and having a good time.

 **Next Morning 0500 hours Fireteam Cougar Barracks, Classified Location, United States**

With most of the team still resting Wilgus gets up and readies his gear to move. He loads up his M4 and switches the optic to an ACOG scope. He then loads his pistol mags, cleans his rifle, checks his sight, and makes sure his night vision goggles are intact. He then checks his combat pack to see what he has to get from the quartermaster's office. "Alright, I need to get bandages, an MRE and some extra water." He mumbles to himself. He then hears someone moving around about to wake up and starts up the unit's coffee pot. He grabs some cereal bars out of his footlocker and starts eating. He sees that there is a message on his team pad. {To Fireteam Cougar: You are needed for a recon operation on possible HYDRA bases more intel will be sent shortly. Desert enviroment}. He reads and prepares a briefing. A few minutes later he sees Straka come walking out, already dressed in his combat uniform. "Morning Jake, how you feeling?" "Pretty good Lieutenant." Jake moves over to the coffee pot and grabs a cup. "Any new intel for our next mission, Wilgus?" Wilgus looks up "We have a new recon op looking for HYDRA bases but at the moment that's all I know. I've been told amore desert environment so we are gonna need some more water" "I agree on that sir." Jake responds.

 **1530 HYDRA Safe House Islamabad, Pakistan**

Ex Private Allen Limpiano and a team of HYDRA agents are preparing their weapons to try and capture a high ranking SHIELD agent for interrogation. They grab TAR-21 assault rifles and MP-443 pistols. "Alright we do this shit quick, clean and efficient. We don't need Whitehall to get on our asses for messing up got it? Hail Hydra." "Hail Hydra the rest of the team responds.

 **1815 Fireteam Cougar Barracks, Classified Location, United States**

The team is sitting around checking weapons and setting up and securing their gear when suddenly an Army Captain comes running in. "Troopers this is an urgent message from Phil Coulson three of his agents Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz and Maria Hill have been captured by HYDRA agents led by a former member of your team, Allen Lopez" Wilgus stands up "Are we good to go?" "Yes Lieutenant. You guys are wheels up in 20 minutes." "Copy that sir. Everybody get your gear set up weapons, ammo, NVGs, parachutes and water are top priority." "Yes sir" the team replies. The team grabs their gear Wilgus grabs his M4 and 1911 and checks his optics and other things on his rifle. The team sprints to the C-130 while carrying most of their gear in their hands. The plane lifts off at 1845 hours and flies to Pakistan only stopping to refuel.


	2. Rescue Mission

**Chapter 2**

 **1600 Hours HYDRA Operational Hideout Islamabad Pakistan**

The house is dusty and dimly lit with old kerosene lanterns lighting the room. Maria Hill starts to wake up from being knocked out during the interrogation and sees Jemma Simmons laying on the ground bruised and bloodied just barely conscious. Fitz is then brought through the door and thrown down on the ground across the room from Jemma and herself. The HYDRA leader walks in and Hill immediately recognizes him as part of the special-forces team that had helped in Somalia and had been at the Triskelion but she realized he hadn't been there with them. She hears an evil laugh come out of his mouth "Welcome to my world, Agent Hill. We need you to cooperate or they will take the pain. But I expect to be able to have some fun with them since you are Fury's loyal bitch." "Fuck you traitor! I am not even with SHIELD anymore." Hill yells back at him. Limpiano chuckles. "Oh you misunderstand, I don't want SHIELD secrets, I want secrets from the Avengers." Hill looks at him with rage in her eyes. "I don't have any of those either, asshole." Limpiano smacks her across the face knocking to the ground which she hits hard since she couldn't brace herself due to being handcuffed. He then walks over to Simmons, picks her up and hangs her handcuffs from the ceiling so only the tips of her toes touch the ground, and he splashes water from his canteen on her face waking her up. "Wha…where am I?" She questions still dazed, "Hello beautiful, you're going to help us break Ms. Hill over there." He says and points to Hill. "Oh yeah, by the way which one of you three is going to take the bullet in the head?" He sinisterly says and gestures towards Fitz and a close protection SHIELD agent that had been with them. "Wake the bastards up." After he says this one of the HYDRA soldiers goes and kicks Fitz in the ribs, waking them up "What hell you bugger?" Fitz yells and then realizes where he is. He sees Jemma hanging by her wrists staring at him with tears in her eyes. "Ok I'll talk! Just let them go." Hill blurts out. "Thank you for your cooperation Hill." Limpiano says and the he quickly raises his pistol and fires three times into the escort agent and then shoots Fitz in the chest. "Nooooooo!" Jemma screams and starts sobbing uncontrollably. "He'll bleed out within about 4 hours a horrible way to die." He then looks to the rest of his team "Let's go" Limpiano says as he releases the lock holding Jemma up he then stomps on her leg making her be unable to walk, she screams as he does this. "You sadistic fucker!" Hill yells "Get used to it" Limpiano responds walking out of the room chuckling.

 **1900 hours, US Air Force C-130 preparing for drop over Islamabad Pakistan.**

Fireteam cougar is loading magazines into their weapons with rounds in the chambers. Wilgus looks around at his men and sees Staff Sergeant Moon checking her M4 and grabbing a few grenades seeming a little distracted. "You ok, Destiny?" Wilgus asks his friend "I'm fine" she says to him. "It's about Limpiano isn't it?" She just glares at him. "Don't worry you get to choose what we do if we capture him, copy?" "Yes sir. Let's get this shit over with." The team puts on their oxygen masks and run off the ramp. The team pulls their chutes low enough to be barely detectable. They rally up near the old SHIELD station in Islamabad and move towards the objective. Cooper and Salbato move into a building about 200 yards from the objective to provide over watch. The rest of the team makes it to about 50 yards from the target and suddenly all hell breaks loose. "Contact front!" Bernsten yells as an lmg opens fir on the team. The team starts returning fire and moving to better positions. Straka makes a run to Wilgus but is hit a few feet away knocking him down. "Fuck!" Straka yells. Wilgus hears him and moves over to his friend grabbing his vest and dragging him to cover. Wilgus pulls out some bandages and treats Straka's leg. "You good?" Wilgus asks as her grabs his rifle and fires at the MG position. "Yeah, Im good he says as he fires at the enemy as well. Wilgus then signals to Moon, Straka, Hawkins, Bernsten and Helton to get ready to move to the objective. "Covering fire!" Wilgus yells over the radio and the group of six sprints towards and move into the objective building while the rest of the team holds the attention of the rest of the HYDRA tactical team.

After entering the building and moving to the 3rd floor, Wilgus spots a team of HYDRA troops move into a room and signals his team to move into the room next to it and then the Moon and Bernsten set C-4 on the wall and blow it the team breaches in and shoots two of the three enemies in the room. They notice the last enemy is Limpiano and Straka knocks him out and zipcuffs him. "Moon take that Fucker out to the rest of the team and report back" "Copy that" she responds. The rest of the group moves to a door and moves into the backroom of the base and sees the horrible scene left by Limpiano and his men. Wilgus runs up to Simmons "Get…to…Fitz" She manages to say weakly and then passes out. Straka and Bernsten move to Hill. "Get these cuffs off me" She tells them and grabs a TAR-21 off one of the dead HYDRA agents "Helton get in here now they need Medical attention ASAP." Wilgus yells, he then looks over and sees Fitz wounded and the teams protection agent dead on the ground and he moves over and shuts the young agent's eyes, "God speed, Soldier" He then moves and helps Simmons onto his right shoulder since her leg is broken. Hill stands up and grabs a TAR-21 and takes Simmons as Wilgus picks up Fitz and throws the unconscious man over his shoulders. The team then takes off running. "That fucker you have as prisoner shot Fitz." Hill tells Wilgus. "We have to get some intel out of him. Destiny gets the first shot at interrogation though." "Copy that." "Shit, guys get out of here" Hawkins yells as they see about five HYDRA agents come rushing through the door. "Come on Christian you can make it." "Negative on that sir, I'll meet you down there" Wilgus and the team move out and as they make it out to the rest of the team an explosion collapses the building. "Hawkins, Hawkins come in are you there..." Wilgus yells over the radio and hears nothing but static "….Fuck!" He moves out towards the rest of the team. The team then moves out to what had been a pretty tough battle. Gutierrez had been wounded so evac choppers are on the way. Roughly 5 minutes later the choppers arrive and extract the team to an airfield in Afghanistan.


	3. Return Home

**Chapter 3**

 **Kandahar Airfield Afghanistan 2030 Hours Medical Station**

Wilgus stands with Straka and Hill waiting for word on Jemma's condition. Despite it being a medical area they all carry their personal sidearms. Wilgus whispers to Straka and Hill "Go to interrogation and help Moon with breaking Lopez. I will stay here and wait for Simmons." "Yes sir." Straka responds while Hill just nods, the two then walk away. Wilgus then sits on a bench in the room and waits for about 30 minutes he then hears "Lieutenant Wilgus please head to the recovery room." He stands up and walks over to where Simmons is in recovery. She is still a little out of it from the cast being put on but she manages to speak "So you are the man who saved me. Did Fitz…." She trails off. Wilgus looks down at the ground "Yeah he was lucky but your close protection agent…..I'm sorry." She frowns at the soldier standing there looking at the ground. "I know you did your best Lieutenant. I heard you lost one of your men out there. I'm sorry that happened." "Thank you but it is part of our job…I have to go help Hill and Moon out with an interrogation. I will be back soon." He then turns and walks out of the door.

 **Interrogation Room 2100 Hours**

In the center of the room sits Limpiano zipcuffed to a chair with a CIA agent interrogating him with normal tactics. Moon, Hill and Wilgus then walk into the room and Wilgus whispers to the CIA agent who nods and leaves. Hill punches the smug soldier "That's for Fitz you son of a bitch." The traitor looks up at her and laughs "Don't like seeing the dirty work done, surprising since you always do what Fury tells you." Moon then pulls out her combat knife and stabs him in the leg. "Fucking bitch!" Limpiano yells as Wilgus steps in and pulls Moon back "Now tell us who you answer too or she gets free reign over you and I won't stop her next time. You know I will do it." Wilgus twists the knife and then pulls it out. Limpiano grunts "Seriously Wilgus? You think I'm afraid of her." Wilgus leans over the table and looks at him "After what you pulled I would be. Hawkins died because of you." He then walks over to Hill "Let's go, Moon has this mother fucker covered." Moon then turns towards Limpiano and glares at him "You're all mine now".

 **Command Center Kandahar Airfield 2120 Hours**

Wilgus walks into the command center and sees Phil Coulson, who he had worked with in the past and had sent them on the mission after Limpiano, speaking with Colonel Hadley. Coulson turns around "Evening lieutenant, we need your help to take out a certain target who betrayed us." "Who sir?" We need your team's help to track John Garrett and Grant Ward." "Yes sir we'll prepare to mobilize ASAP." Coulson looks at the young soldier "I want you to keep operations going against HYDRA here." "Yes sir." Wilgus rssponds. As Wilgus turns to leave Coulson grabs his arm. "Be careful Ward is one of the greatest fighters on the planet." Wilgus looks at him and nods. "Copy that sir." Wilgus then walks outside and to the medical station. He walks into the medical center and walks to one of the Nurses "How are Simmons and Fitz doing, Corporal?" The nurse looks up to him "Simmons will probably be released within a week or so and Fitz is stable but we may need to send him back to the States though, Sir." "Good to hear, I will send one of my men to keep an eye on them." "Copy that see you later, sir."

 **Barracks 2200 Hours**

"Lieutenant Wilgus to the interrogation room now." Wilgus roles out of his bunk and grabs his 1911 "No rest for the weary…" He then walks to the interrogation room viewing area. When he enters he sees Limpiano with many small cuts all over him with some sort of liquid all over him. "Holy fucking shit, Moon!" Destiny walks over to him "He'll talk now I put those cuts in his skin and dumped salt and lemon juice on his dumbass." "Copy that." Wilgus then walks over and enters the interrogation room "So you are ready to talk, if not Destiny is waiting to come back in." Limpiano looks at him. "Ok, ok our contact's name is Daniel Whitehall, he is one of HYDRA's new heads now get me out of here." Wilgus walks to undo the cuffs but Destiny walks in and stabs Limpiano in the chest, "What the fuck are you doing?" Wilgus yells as he grabs Destiny and drags her out of the room while she is kicking and screaming. "You fucker I trusted you we all trusted you!" She yells at Limpiano. Wilgus then sets her against the wall. "Hey Destiny look at me, listen, it's going to be fine Limpiano is going to get what he deserves. I'll take care of it myself. " Destiny just nods at her friend with tears and anger in her eyes. Wilgus then walks in to the interrogation room. "What the fuck was that shit?" Limpiano yells at Wilgus. "What you deserved, you did this to yourself, traitor. You betrayed your team and got one of what was your team, one of your brothers killed. You deserve every bad thing that comes your way, and you deserve nothing good in this life." As he says this Wilgus draws his pistol and fires five times killing Limpiano. Wilgus then walks out to Destiny and grabs her by the shoulders. "Listen he's gone he can't pull that shit anymore." Wilgus then walks Destiny to her bunk and makes sure Cooper and Helton stay with her 24 hours a day.


	4. An Enemy Rising

**Chapter 4**

 **A Year And 10 Months Later Kandahar Airfield 0630 hours**

Wilgus rolls out of his bed still half in his kit after an op with his team that helped take out a major HYDRA weapons trade route. He grabs his pistol and holster from his night stand and walks over to the bathroom to take a shower. He then hears static from his radio. He walks over to get it. "Lieutenant Wilgus…This is Colonel Hadley" a female voice says over the radio. "We are transferring Lieutenant Allie Horner to your unit as a new Executive Officer. Do you copy that?" "Yes ma'am I do" 'Good she will be at Kandahar in two hours with some new members for your team. They are Russian FSB and will be helping with some new intel, Along with a couple people who need to speak with you and your team, Lieutenant. Also I need you and your current second in Command to meet me in command center in twenty minutes. " "Copy that ma'am." Wilgus then grabs some crackers left over from his MRE dinner. The young lieutenant grabs his plate carrier and M4 and walks over to Jake's bunk. Wilgus grabs a cup of water and splashes it on his second in command's face. "What the fuck man?" Jake responds to the Lieutenant "Well, we have to go meet up with Colonel Hadley in twenty mikes…also I thought it would be a fun way to wake you up, brother." "Alright…I'll be out in ten."

 **1 Hour 50 Minutes Later, Kandahar Airfield, Landing Strip**

Wilgus and Straka walk out in full combat gear to where the C130 carrying Horner and the FSB team has landed. As the ramp lowers Wilgus suddenly hears gun fire from inside the plane. "SHIT!" Wilgus yells as Straka and himself run to the doorway and prepare to breach. "Go, go,go!" Wilgus yells as they open the door and rush in to see a sight they've never seen. In the center of the room stands an enhanced person that is shrugging off hits from the Russian AK's. Nearby are two SHIELD agents with stab wounds through the heart, Wilgus looks to his left and about 10 feet away from Straka and himself, crumpled at the bottom of the wall lays Allie as she had been thrown against it and been knocked out. "Straka, get Allie out of here!" Wilgus yells as he points at her "But what about you, sir" Straka says. "Don't worry bro I'll be fine." Straka then runs to grab Allie as Wilgus picks up an M240 that had been in a gun rack on the wall, slings his M4 and sets up near the door. "Hey asshole" He yells as he opens fire on the super powered enemy. The robot turns and starts walking towards him shrugging off the hits. Wilgus looks at the Russian who appears to be in charge "Get your men out of here now" The commander gestures to his team and they sprint for the ramp as Wilgus sets C4 and rigs the 240 to keep firing and takes off with the detonator in his hand. He runs out and about 40 yards away from the plane detonates the charges.

The rest of his team shows up "What the hell is going on?" Moon asks the lieutenant. "This guy is taking a lot of punishment …so we better get set up." Wilgus responds suddenly they see something even worse three quinjets with Watchdog markings start firing missiles, as Wilgus sees one hit the command center he takes off running in a full sprint. "Fall back' Wilgus orders as more Watchdog troops are dropping out of the jets. "What the fuck are you doing, Ian" Straka yells over the radio. "I'm getting some more people out I'll meet you at rendezvous alpha 3, copy? Take the Russians with you." "Yes sir" Straka responds. Wilgus sees a Hydra trooper rase his rifle and quickly reacts firing two shots in to the enemy soldier's chest. He then sprints an bashes through the command center door "Colonel Hadley, Captain Sweeten are you in here?" he sees someone move. "Yeah, I'm over here" Wilgus runs over to Hadley. "Can you walk?" She looks at him "Yes, but go grab Captain Sweeten, her leg is in pretty bad shape we're the only survivors here" Wilgus nods and sprints to the young female pilot and tosses his M4 to Hadley as he picks up the unconscious Captain and draws his pistol. "Let's go, we're going to rendezvous alpha 3. My team is waiting there and already called for extraction." With that they take off running as the base is destroyed.

 **4 hours later C-130 headed to Rendezvous with Coulson's team.**

Everyone is still in full combat gear as Wilgus leans over his close friend and the team's lead helicopter pilot, Captain Sweeten's medical bed, he holds his helmet in his hand. Wilgus being an Air Force Pararescue had set up an IV and bandaged her injuries. A couple minutes later the pilot yells back: "Wilgus, radio for you" Wilgus then walks to the cockpit. "This is Wilgus go ahead." "Lieutenant we figured out what took out Kandahar…that enemy was an Enhanced that had turned against us, we were able to figure this out from the helmet camera footage off of your team." Wilgus looks at the floor of the plane "How do we take them out if they shrug off bullets like that?" "You'll have to improvise." "Shit…" Wilgus mumbles as he looks down at the floor in anger. "…Anything else, sir?" "Negative, you should get back to your team. You are being brought back to the States. Over and out" Wilgus walks back to his team most of whom are asleep. Noticing this he takes off his JPC, grabs a book out of his pack and walks over to Captain Sweeten's medical bed and sits down. He starts reading the book, as he drinks a bottle of water he had left over there from watching over his friend earlier. As the young soldier reads he hears a moan next to him. He stands up and looks at his friend whose eyes suddenly shoot open "Where am I? The command center got hit." "You're on a C-130 back to the states Maysa, we're all gonna be fine." Wilgus tells her calmly. "What happened?" Wilgus looks at here "The W/atchdog's best troops, we took out a small amount but more and more kept showing up and they fired on the command center, I went running for you guys but only you and Hadley survived the blast. We got you back to the exfil site and then we got extracted and flown out of that hell hole." Maysa looks at her friend. "It's alright, you need to get some rest eventually Lieutenant Wilgus" she chuckles after saying this as the two had known each other from back home in the US. "I'll rest when we're home, Maysa." He says in a somber tone. "Whats up with you?" He sits down next to his gear. "Well this war has changed, we don't have firepower to take all this HYDRA and enhanced crap on…" He looks down and sighs "…I can't protect my team." She looks at the young officer "You have always protected your team and your friends. You ran into a building under fire to save Colonel Hadley and myself. You've always done what was needed to protect those you care about Ian." Wilgus looks up at her. "I feel weak, we lost Hawkins, I just don't know if I have the ability to protect the rest of my team, my family." She looks at her friend "You can't feel responsible for everything that goes wrong…stuff happens all the time like that. You are the leader of this team and you have done a damn good job." A few hours later the team lands in the US at an airfield in Miami.

 **2 Months Later Fort Bragg North Carolina, New Barracks for Fire Team Cougar**

The team is at the firing range training with their personal weapons, as they finish of the magazines in their weapons they walk back to reload and do another round of firing. As Wilgus and Moon walk back she looks at him. "Can't wait for the next op, we've been cooped up to long." She says with a chuckle. He looks at her "Well we have a possible op in Miami as long as Sweeten is ready."


End file.
